We stepped off the train onto the busy terminal of Manehatten. There were ponies, lots of them, all trying to get places. The griffons with me kept close to me. They were relying on their pony friend to navigate the pony tides. It was kinda nice, being 'in charge' in a little way. I did my best to guide them away from that press, to the slightly lesser crush of the streets.

"Which way?" I didn't know that, looking to Gael.

He pointed the way and took the lead, my time of directing was over, aw. The density of ponies began to lower as we emerged from city center towards more run down buildings and big empty warehouses alongside sprawling tenements. We were in a bad part of town. I could tell!

"You came here to get me?" I hadn't seen Gael and Fetlock. Hay, never met Fetlock outside of a voice.

"Yep, why?" He threw up his hands. "Not like there were a ton of choices to buy what I was buyin'."

Gelly smirked at that, walking along with us. "So you're not going to even start with how odd it is you came here to buy a creature in the first place?"

Gael huffed with indignance. "It ain't like that! She said she could make a creature, not... yank one out of who knows where. A creature on demand that does exactly what you needed sounded pretty sweet."

Gelly thumped against him from the side. "You are a moron."

"Zip your beak!" He thumped her back with equal intensity, the two looking like they were ready to fight it out on the sidewalk.

I hurried up between them, even if it meant I got crashed into from both sides. "Please stop! We're not here for me. Let's find out if Jessica's alright."

Gael threw up a hand, pointing at a little squat shopping strip ahead of us. "That's the place. Assuming she's still there, we can ask a few questions."

It wasn't much. Where it all began, and I hadn't even seen it! It wasn't fair... I strode right up to it, scooting when I hit the pavement. The speeding carts in the city were not the sort to slow down if someone got all up in the wrong part of the street.

Gelly grabbed me by the shoulder. When I looked, I saw she had another hand on Gael. "Morons, let me go first."

Gael hiked a brow at that. "Why?"

"Duh, she don't know me." Gelly laughed a little. "So they won't run seeing me. Let me go in, make sure she's there, and come in when I give a signal."

I couldn't argue that logic... "What signal?"

"Question tail." She moved forward without explaining what that was, soon vanishing into the store that had no signs that even said what it was.

"It's this," explained Gael without being asked, gesturing with a toss of his head back at his tail, which had formed a perfect question mark curve. "You don't usually make that without trying, so, eh, not a bad signal."

Now, I wasn't inside. Gelly told me about it later, which I then told you, lucky devil.

So Gelly walked in, and there was another griffon there! She was kinda surprised, she admitted. She was expecting ponies for days. "Hey."

"Hello." She glanced up from her typewriter, which she was still clacking away at. "You got an appointment?"

"I wanted to get one of those." Gelly smiled her best smile. "Is the doctor in?"

"There's a process," grunted the tough looking griffon hen. "Here." She grabbed a paper from her desk and slid it forward so fast she could keep right on typing without a delay. "Fill that out."

Gelly snatched the paper off the desk and turned around, sitting on the edge of it as she read over it. What did she want the pony for. Describe the pony's personality. Is this a famous pony, if so please provide a name and a photo. It was quite a long questionnaire of all kinds of questions. "So what's the price?"

"How much do you have?" She glanced up at Gelly. "You'd be better off picking an existing pony to copy. They're cheaper."

"Huh..." Gelly turned to face the secretary griffon. "What if I wanted a copy of you? You seem like a useful griffon to me."

"Nuh-uh." She shook her head. "That's against policy. No copies of employees, that includes the doctor."

"Oh, right." Gelly snapped two fingers smartly. "Then someone else could make copies."

"You're getting it." She paused typing a moment. "So what do you want? You didn't come in here to talk shop."

"I didn't catch your name." Gelly started scribbling on the paper, mostly nonsense to look busy.

"I didn't say it. Gudrun." I wasn't there, but I was pleased later to see that the g names continued!

"Say, you guys have, like, a payment plan?" Gelly scribbled her nothings as she worked.

"No. Upfront or no sale." Gudrun frowned softly. "If you don't got bits, stop wasting our time."

"I got plenty, just checking." She folded the paper in half. "A friend of mine got a pony, grey, bubbles on her butt? Pegasus. I really like her. I want one too."

"Oh, why didn't you say so." She flipped through a few things. "We have the notes on that one. You want one exactly the same?"

"Not a difference." Gelly folded her arms. "When do I get it?"

"The doctor will see you when she's ready. Payment will be due when you have the consultation." She pointed at the paper. "Did you put your contact info?"

"I will now..." She flipped the paper open and looked for it. "Uh... phone number?"

Gudrun sighed. "If you're just visiting, stay at the motel over there." She pointed at one down the road a little. "We can find you if you're doing that."

"Got it, I'll do that." Gelly tucked the paper away. "Thanks."

"Eh." She went back to typing.

And so Gelly returned to us, having never given the question tail. I wagged my tail with a grin. "Is she there?!"

"Maybe." Gelly pointed to the motel. "We won't know for sure until they call us for a meeting. That's when I pay up and we talk to the doctor."

Gael started towards the motel. "That doesn't look free. How much do I have to pay for you, Ditzy?"

I sagged a bit at that. "Sorry."

Gelly thumped against him, a habit they had. "Stop picking on her! She's trying to do the right thing."

"The expensive thing," he muttered. "Whatever, we're already here." And so we checked in. We didn't have a lot to do, in that motel room, but I could see the front of Fetlock's store, watching ponies come and go. A lot of them looked... well, ponies didn't really hide what they were half the time. Half of them looked like gangsters.

I jumped when a hand came down on my left shoulder. "Why do you keep watching?" It was Gael. "They ain't going anywhere, for now."

"I just kinda wanted to see what sorts of ponies went there." I pointed to the window. "Not good ponies, most of 'em."

"Huh." He leaned in over my shoulder. "Just means we should not be in sight when th--"

He didn't get to finish, a knocking at the door. Instead he nudged me along hurriedly into a closet to hide with me.

I could hear Gelly open the door with a sour word, in typical griffon fashion. "What is it?"

"She has an opening," came a lower female voice. "If you're ready?"

"Let's go." We heard a door close.

The closet door opened and we spilled out of it. Gael was climbing off of me, back up to his feet. "We gotta follow her. Now's our chance!"

He wasn't wrong! I bounced to my hooves and we were hurrying after Gelly, confident that the doctor was in.

Inside the store, a secretary sat, arguing with Gelly. We couldn't hear them yet, but their expressions were pretty clear.

Gael pushed the door open without a pause. "Hey."

"Mister Gael," Gudrun was fixed on him. "Your friend is trying to get what you got, without paying. What would you think, if we let somegriff else get what you got, for free?"

"I'd be pissed off," he easily agreed. "Gelly, cut it out."

I strolled in after him with a smug look. "I'm sorry not every griff can afford a pony as good as me." I was faking, I promise!

Gelly huffed, crossing her arms. "Stop being so greedy!"

"Forget her." Gael went up to the desk. "I got a question." He pointed back at me. "She says someone else came, what, after her, with her, whatever. There were two ponies made on accident, but I didn't get the other one? That ain't right! Ya shoulda at least told me and gave me the chance to buy 'em both, at a discount of course."

Gudrun looked past Gael to me. "I'm glad you're pleased with your purchase. The doctor gives exactly what is ordered. Any differences in delivery are at the doctor's discretion, provided the order was fulfilled, which it was." She was reciting as if it was the law of the land, written for all to see. "That pony was paid for already, Mister Gael."

"Before I got there? I doubt that." He walked to fingers along the desk.

"After, not that it matters." She inclined her head. "It's already sold."

Gael sighed in a long suffering way. "I want to see this pony."

"We have confidentiality concerns," warned Gudrun. "You wouldn't want us telling other creatures about you, would you?"

"Gudrun." A voice, a familiar one! The voice! It was coming from an intercom on her desk. "Give them her address."

"But... As you want." She shrugged softly. "That pony was purchased free."

As she reached for some new paper, Gael looked all the more suspicious. "You just told me you don't do 'free'."

"Not free in cost." She slapped down a new set of papers. "Free as in living arrangement. They wanted this pony to replace another, a dead case probably. So they're not 'owned', like your pony. They may not even know they're a replacement. Don't remind them."

"I'm his." I nudged up against Gael's side, an affectionate rub instead of the harsh thumps the two griffons had been giving.

"You sure are," agreed Gudrun without much emotion. "Here's her address."

She was a she, that's a step! Gael looked over the paper a long moment before standing up. "Alright, thanks."

We were about to leave, not shaking the doctor at all. But we knew were Jessica was. That was... most of the point, right?

Gelly growled meaningfully at Gudrun, but left with us. "I hate that hen," she grunted as we crossed the street. "Why'd we even wait for the doctor if we didn't go in to see her?!"

"To start, I couldn't afford another pony," reasoned Gael. "To continue, I'm not trying to shove past that secretary. I got some serious bad vibes off of her. I felt like she could snap me in half if I forced it." He shrugged softly. "So we couldn't pay our ways in, or force our way in, so... we didn't get in, and that's that."

Gael was a practical griffon. I kinda hated it at that moment, but I wasn't willing to try to fight somegriff to get at the doctor, and I wasn't even sure what I'd do with her. "So we know where Jessica is?"

"Yeah, but that ain't her name." We were back at the motel, gathering our stuff to take with us. "She's Berryshine now."

Berryshine? What pony was that? The name wasn't familiar to me... A background pony? The concept of a background pony came back to me. I was one of those! Well, that wasn't so bad, so far I could tell. Maybe she was doing alright. She wasn't even owned by anypony. A good step...

But she wasn't in Manehattan. Gael only muttered a little as we got a new ticket, to Ponyville! I was excited and bouncing a bit the whole way. Ponyville, the Ponyville, in the flesh, er, wood. All the ponies I knew, or most of them, in one place.

Including me. I sagged a bit at that thought. "Oh no."

Gelly poked me in the side. "What's wrong?"

"I just remembered I'm in Ponyville, the other me. Muffins, not Ditzy." I clopped my hooves to my cheeks, eyes swirling. "Will she be mad when she sees another of herself?"

Gelly poked me right on my widdly pony snout. "If she's half as nice as you are, I bet she'd give you a hug long before she got mad at you."

I smiled at that, hoping the original wasn't mad at her doppelganger. "I'm not trying to replace her, I promise. I don't even work with mail."

Gelly raised a brow. "You're kidding. Is it the mail? Does doing mail make creatures like that. Gabby, and you. That's a pattern!"

"We're almost there," noted Gael. "If you two aren't having too much fun."

"Ready!" I chimed, and led the way off the train, into Ponyville! It was everything I imagined, and more. Those cute picturesque houses, so many ponies, all smiling.

"Comin' in!" came a voice before I was crashed into, sent sprawling under another pony. "Sorry," they quickly offered, sitting up on me and inclining her head down at me. "Huh?"

I was looking up at Derpy, Muffins? The Muffin pony! She had found me, basically instantly. "Wow."

"Wow," echoed Muffins. "Hello there." She offered a hoof towards me as she slid off of me. "Are you alright?"

"I'm alright." I bobbed my head as I clopped hoof to hoof, rising upright. "I'm Ditzy." I curled a hoof at myself. "And I'm a big fan!"

"I have fans?!" She clopped her hooves to her cheeks much like I had before, her eyes swirling. "That's cool." Suddenly she narrowed her eyes at me. "Wait, are you a hu-person?"

Gasp... Wait... "You know about them?"

"They're the only ones that make a big deal about me." She said, waving the idea off. "I'm just a clumsy pegasus doing her best, nothing special, but humans think that's really a big thing." She inclined her head the other way. "This is the first time I met one that looked just like me before."

"Long story," I lamely deflected. "I'm still really happy to meet you. I'm not here to replace you, promise!"

Muffins blinked softly. "That's good." She leaned in, touching nose to nose. "You seem like a nice pony."

Aw, I was Muffins approved! "My friends are waiting for me... Permission to come say hi later?"

"Sure!" she assured in an enthusiastic tone. "I get off work at six." She pointed. "My house is over there." Ponies were so trusting, giving me that with barely knowing me. "See you then!" And she took off, back to her duties.

I rejoined my griffon friends. "That went better than I was worried about."

Gelly smirked victoriously. "She jumped right at you for sudden hugs. I think I won that bet."

"That wasn't a hug exactly..." Still... "She was nice though. I wanna talk to her after we check on Jessica!"

"Berryshine," reminded Gael. "Hey." He thrust out a hand, blocking a pink pony from pronking past. "You know where Berryshine lives?"

"Berryshine." Pinkie tilted her head left and right before it clicked. "Oh! Berry Punch! She barely uses that other name. She's usually over there." She pointed the way towards what appeared to be a bar. "Huh, gotta tell Muffins she has a copy problem."

"She already knows!" I squeaked. "We met, and we're cool."

"Phew!" Pinkie wiped the sweat she didn't have off her forehead. "Thank goodness! I had a big copy problem for a while, really messed things up. You be a good copy!" She pointed at me accusingly.

"I will, honest!"

Pinkie was already looking at the two griffons. "So are you two nice griffons or not? 'Cause if you are, I owe you both a big party!"

Gael allowed a smile to slowly escape. "I like a good party. You paying?"

"I don't make visitors to Ponyville pay for their own parties. Gosh, that'd be rude. I'm on the case!" She saluted, then resumed her pronk with a loud giggle, looking forward to the party, clearly.

Gael shrugged lightly. "At least we get some free food while we're here. That's something. Why did she point at a bar?"

Was Berry Punch's fan canon accepted? "Berry!" I called out, a mare turning towards me. It was her! She looked a little tipsy. Had she been drinking?

"Hey, Derpster." She offered a hoof towards me, wobbling a bit. "C'mere. Comin' for some drinks?"

"I came for you, actually..." I scuttled in closer, unsure what I was facing. "Jessica?"

Her expression shifted, the drunken haze drawing back a little. "How do you know that?"

"It's me... remember?"

She frowned, tapping her chin. "Yeah... yeah! You were that pony! Oh wow, you finished too..." She grabbed me up, pulling me closer. "Look at you! Look at me! I'm your size. I liked you better when you were lap-sized, gotta say."

I giggled at that, feeling awkward. "Yeah... Are you alright? I was so worried about you."

"She was crying," noted Gael 'helpfully'. "We came to find you."

"That's sweet." Berry pushed me back a little, looking me over. "You have some friends." Her eyes moved to Gael and Gabby. "Hey, thanks for taking care of my pony."

"She's my pony," noted Gael firmly. "She's teachin' me how to make bits."

"Poor thing." She patted me on the head. "Got all the way from there just to be stuck working the grind? They told me to just... be, and here I am, Berryshining it up! Ponyville's a great place!" She grabbed a mug, hooking it with a hoof and arm. "Wanna sip?"

"Nah..." Still, she was whole, and seemingly happy? "You don't miss your old self?"

"Why should I?" she questioned. "I was stuck in a job I hated, in a society I barely tolerated. Now I'm a magical colorful pony that has a job of social drinking. I can think of worse things." She raised her mug in a toast to nothing, then took a few gulps. "Ah. Good stuff. I even got a sister in the package and she's a little adorable thing!"

I clopped my hooves together. "That's really nice. I'm glad you're fitting in then. I was worried you were being bossed around by some mean jerkface."

Berry leaned in and pointed to a quiet pony nursing a drink across the way. "That's the pony that paid. When the original... passed... he was really lonely for a drinking partner, thought a part of the town was missing... So he paid for a new one. Ta da." She gestured over herself. "Thanks again, Toasty!"

The pony with perfect toast points on his rump raised his glass towards Berry with a glad smile. They both got what they wanted. No hard feelings involved.

"Huh..." After all that, it was me that was in the harder situation. "Huh..."

"Don't look like that. Hay, sorry." She put both hooves on her chest. "You really needed some help, and I was kinda terrible at it."

"No!" I thunked her between her hooves with one of mine. "Stop that! You were... a bright spot in what felt like a really dark night. You were everything I kinda needed right then." I started rubbing my cheek with the flat of a hoof. "You even helped me figure out how girl parts worked and I really had no idea."

Berry burst into musical laughter. "Glad I could help, even if that part is a little fuzzy... like us!" She wrapped an arm around me, holding me close. "So, do you live nearby? Are we neighbors?"

"Probably." Gael crashed down onto a seat near us.

Wait, what? "What?"

"What?" echoed Gelly. "Aren't we headed back?"

"I'm out of bits," he admitted, shrugging expansively. "We either hike it, and that's a long hike, or we're stuck."

He had to know he was spending his last bits on the new trip... but he took it anyway... "You didn't have to!"

"Yes I did." He thumped me on the shoulder. Why were we so violent that day?! "You've been trying your best to do right by me."

"But your bits..." I knew how important his bits were to him. It was the whole reason he had gotten me in the first place. It was the whole reason my life had been upended. "Why?"

"You wanted something. You wanted it real bad." He picked at the side of his beak with a sharp talon. "You've been working really hard, for me, with me... not asking for all that much... This was one thing you wanted... I could see how much it meant to you."

Gelly sat on her haunches. "That is adorable, but you stranded me here too, chico."

Gael swallowed nervously, as if he hadn't really thought of that. "Oh yeah... Sorry."

I hugged the two of them suddenly, mashing them together. "I'm so sorry! I'll make it up, to both of you!"

Gael smiled awkwardly from the prison that was my hug. "Ditzy is good for it. Look... Gelly, if you can trust me, I'll get us back to comfy, promise."

Berry raised her mug of drink. "You can all crash at my place while you get your hooves under you."

Gael nodded towards Berry. "See, it'll work out. I trust Ditzy to guide us right."

I beamed at that. "We'll make so many bits you can swim in it."

Gael chuckled at that. "We may have to revise the plan a little." He held two fingers up close together. "I don't know this town like I did back home... But we'll figure it out. I feel that."

Gelly rolled her eyes. "You chicknapped this hen, now you gotta take responsibility." She poked him in the side, but it turned into a tickling, the two falling over, his laughter bellowing out under her relentless attack.

I had a feeling she was alright with how it worked out. I reached and bonked Gael on the head suddenly.

"What?" He glared up at me. "What is it now?"

"I am yours," I repeated solemnly.

"Yeah?"

"Your friend." I smiled brightly. "A good friend, that cares about you a ton."

He sat up, sliding Gelly partly off. "Oh... You... You alright with that?"

"I may bathe you less." I stuck out my tongue. "But besides that, let's be really good friends." I offered a hoof to him, and another to Gelly. "That goes for you too."

Gelly grabbed up my hoof in both of her hands, squeezing. "You are an adorable muffin of pony purity! I might die of sugar overdose."

And yet, she was not running away from the pony town. I had snagged her with kindness, and gained a friend that I felt confident I would keep for quite some time. "Now that that's settled...." I slid my hoof on the outside of the two griffons and pulled them closer. "Now kiss."

They both shot me such a glare. Such. A. Glare...

Completely worth it. They'd work it out. We'd work it out. It was a new life, but I never felt more confident that we were going to cut out a path for ourselves and enjoy the time spent doing it. I had made a new family in that world, and I was a proud member of it. I am Ditzy, the oncer, citizen of Equestria. I used to be a human, but I'm still me, and I happen to like me.

I hope you do too.

Author's Note

Fin!